In Olden Days
by KousukeAsazuki
Summary: A question proposed by Raenef V sends Eclipse back into a memory of a night when he served under his previous lord. [He wasn't sure why, but he knew he could never gaze into his master's eyes when they were filled with anything but anger.]


No real inspiration for this, other than I wanted to write something with Raenef IV and Eclipse. Enjoy!

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"Eclipse?" 

"Hm?" The demon looked up to see his lord and master, a mere child, looking back at him through sparkling green eyes.

"What was the previous Raenef like?" The blonde tilted his head, offering a small smile.

"You've met him, you should know," Eclipse offered, saying nothing more and looking back to his book.

"But you actually served him, you must have seen a side no one else did." Raenef blinked as Eclipse seemed to freeze at the words. He wondered what he had said to get the demon so tense.

"You'd think," he said after a minute, returning to normal.

"You mean you didn't?"

"No. Are you done with your studies yet?" It was an obvious and faulty attempt to change the subject.

"I have," the green-eyed boy informed him triumphantly (it wasn't every day Raenef actually _did _finish studying), "So answer."

"I did, you saw all that I did."

"I don't believe you," the demon lord said, walking over to Eclipse and wrapping his arms around his neck, sliding into his lap.

The black-haired demon looked at the boy and was reminded of a child even more than before. After a moment, he sighed and sat his book down, "He wasn't a thing like you, for starters."

The current Raenef tilted his head, "How so?"

"He had a temper and was easily angered," Eclipse explained, glancing off to the side as if to make sure his previous lord's ghost hadn't come back to punish him for speaking ill of the dead.

"He was violent?" the child-like teen asked, frowning slightly. Had Raenef IV done something to Eclipse?

Much to his relief, though, Eclipse shook his head lightly, "Not necessarily," he said softly, his mind somewhere completely different, "Just like a normal demon lord should be."

_Flashback_

_"Did you have a pleasant trip, my lord?" a much younger, yet still mature and stoic Eclipse asked, bowing as the fourth Raenef entered his palace._

_The raven-tressed demon lord cast a glance to his servant before walking by him, "You could say that."_

_Following dutifully, Eclipse tilted his head, "My lord..."_

_"What is it, Eclipse?" Raenef asked, shortly. His temper was always so harsh when he came home from those week-long trips he took every now and then. He'd never said where he went or who he saw, but he was always in a bad mood when he returned. Not that he was ever in a particularly joyful mood to begin with._

_"You're injured," the young demon pointed out, motioning to his master's arm where his shirt had been torn and a deep gash was still bleeding._

_"It's nothing."_

_"You should clean it befo-"_

_"It's _nothing_," Raenef repeated, turning his cold gaze on the demon, "It's none of your concern."_

_"Forgive me for saying, my lord, but your well-being _is _my concern."_

_Raenef chose to ignore this and instead continued on his way. When Eclipse began to follow, he snapped his head back, "Leave me be." With that, he entered into his room (a place Eclipse knew better than to ever go in without permission) and all but slammed the door shut._

_---_

_Three hours later (or maybe it was six, Eclipse hadn't bothered to keep track), Raenef exited from his room, a new shirt hiding his wound. He glanced at the demon boy, who had taken a seat next to his door-- his head bowed and his eyes closed. Upon further inspection, Raenef found that he had fallen asleep, most likely waiting for his master to come back out in a better mood. The demon lord idly wondered if his servant slept at all while he was away, or waited up for him until he returned._

_Making sure the boy was asleep, Raenef scooped him up in his arms and carried him to his own room, laying him down on the bed. He watched Eclipse sleep, the steady rise and fall of his chest and the occasional twitch of his hand or facial expression. For what must have seemed like forever to the outside world, Raenef watched the young demon, trying to wrap his head around how he came to be like he was. He watched, only because he knew that he would never be seen; because he knew that Eclipse would never know he cared. Finally, he turned without notice, and left the room, shutting the door behind him. If Eclipse ever found out he cared, if he ever confronted Raenef with the notion of such a ridiculous thing, then he would have to be killed. Demon lords weren't supposed to care._

_In his room, Eclipse's eyes slowly opened as the door shut behind his lord. He wasn't sure why, but he knew he could never gaze into his master's eyes when they were filled with anything but anger. He wondered, before properly falling asleep, how long it would take him to learn the ways of a demon lord._

_He wouldn't know, until he met the next Raenef, that there were other ways one could behave in the lives that they led._

_End Flashback_

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And.. end oneshot. x-x, I didn't want anything else with Raenef V, so I just left it there. This wasn't supposed to be angsty or fluffy.. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be. What did it come off to you as? Hope you enjoyed and let me know! 


End file.
